Friday, January 25, 2008

Spend Less than $250 of Your Rebate And Change America

Congress passed Bush's economic stimulus package recently which calls for most Americans to receive $600. The total cost of this package is near $150,000,000,000 (+ interest).

Mr. Bush says:

Letting Americans keep more of their own money should increase consumer spending and lift our economy at a time when people otherwise might spend less.

I read that as "Here's some money, paid for by our children, to help out the already rich companies. Please, buy useless things to take some heat off me".

Here is the Patriotic Rebate proposal - lets spend the money on things that will help educate ourselves, better our life, better our children's life, and better America. If Washington DC's answer is to throw money at us, we might as well use it to stop this needless cycle of economic slavery and ignorance.

I'm not even proposing spending all of the $600. If each person only spent around $250 of this new money on specific things, we would be so much more educated and better off.

John Bogle started the Vanguard mutual fund company specializing in low-cost mutual funds. This book is a terrific introduction to cutting investments costs and maximizing what you can make - highly recommended.- $16.47

Total cost to be well educated on personal finance: $54.36 - Do what's in these books, and you'll be on the road to living debt-free, actually saving for retirement, and you'll understand how to budget your personal money.

Most Americans simply have too much "stuff." It's either just a bunch of junk sitting around in closets or boxes, or an endless todo list. It all affects our minds, and this book gives you more than 1500 tips to simplify your life.- $27.95

Total cost to break the cycle of buying crap you don't really: $38.15 - Part of getting wealthy is to cut expenses. With the tips in these books, you can stop buying things you won't use, and understand what's really necessary in your life.

Good investment advice mixed with plans on how to get your whole family involved and talking about staying financially well-off.- $11.66

Total cost to understand how we all fit together in the economic world: $22.54

Understand What's Going On in the Economy

Many people write off "the economy" as this abstract idea that they have no part in. Based on how the federal government spends, it often feels that me. Fact of the matter is that much of the economic problems we have are related to America's obsession with spending money we don't have, while the people in charge send the bill to our next generation. It's a pretty complex mess that has been building up for decades.

Tim Ferriss is a god among men. This has been the most inspirational book I've ever read about taking charge of life, figuring out what's important, and blazing my own trail.-$11.97

Total cost to start enjoying the process of making money: $30.51

Make an Actual Difference

Individual Americans gave a record 245.8 billion dollars to charity in 2006. We are the most charitable nation in terms of donation - now is not the time to stop that. Giving $50 to the charity of your choice would help immensely AND it feels great.

That leaves $350 per person to help pay off debts, invest, or start an emergency fund. If you buy the books used or on eBay, you could save around $80 too. There's also the library or PaperBackSwap to read these books for free.

If America does this, we will get our country on the right course by starting with ourselves.